Ten years later, in 1968, he opened his first independent theatrical and television production agency, Spotlight, followed by the creation in 1971 of Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties.

The production ran until March 1994, and although the show resulted in a financial loss, the musical was van den Ende's introduction to Broadway and earned him the respect of his American peers.

Endemol went on to become the world's largest independent television production company, creating popular TV formats such as Big Brother, Fear Factor, Dancing with the Stars and Wipeout.

In 2007 Endemol was sold on to a consortium including Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy, as well as John de Mol, in a deal valued at €2.6bn.

Under van den Ende's leadership, Stage Entertainment grew rapidly at this time, much attributed to a licensing agreement made in 2000 with Disney Theatrical Productions ( Aida, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin) and an intensive collaboration in Europe with Littlestar, Mamma Mia!

Van den Ende returned to Broadway in the spring of 2011 with the musical Sister Act, a co-production with Whoopi Goldberg.

This marked the beginning of a new phase in van den Ende's longstanding ambition to develop a continuous stream of original musical content.